Saturday, March 31, 2007

First (useable) lace-weight spinning

I'm quite happy with my first lace-weight yarn.

It's from roving I got from one of my Mom's friends via eBay (Brown Sheep roving that she dyed) and I had a great time with it.


That's what it looked like on the bobbin, although the bobbin was much more full when I was finished spinning. (The color isn't quite right--it's better in the pics below.)

Here it is in natural light, and you can get a better idea of the color.
I used white Simply Soft yarn to tie the skein, so it's a bit thicker than the crochet cotton I usually use and sticks out more.


And a gratuitous close-up shot:


I'm pretty happy with this yarn, although we'll see how it really is once I start knitting with it. I ended up putting the yarn back on a bobbin and replying part of it as I just wasn't happy with the first 30 yards or so. I hadn't checked my plying and it was waaaay too loose--the two plies were just barely twisted together and the rest of it was pretty good, so I just couldn't stand to leave it that way. It's still not perfect, but it's HAND spun and I've only been spinning since January. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm learning a new skill and it's all right to not be perfect. I'm still trying to find my comfort level as far as "good enough" and my litmus test is "will that bother me down the road?" I would definitely have been bothered by my new yarn before, but I think it'll be all right now.

I'm still debating about what pattern to use. I got 570 yards from four ounces of roving, and while it's a bit thick and thin in spots, overall I think it's pretty good. I might just pick some stitch patterns and come up with my own shoulder shawl pattern, but we'll see. I really have to finish up some projects before I start new ones!

Speaking of all the projects I've got going, here's a list:

1. Greg's sweater (yes, STILL not finished. I have been working on it though...)

2. Hanging Garden Stole, about 80% complete.

3. Rose of England Shawl, maybe 20% complete. It depends on how big I decide to make it....

4. Shetland Tea Shawl, about 1/3 of the way through the Diamond Madeira section. I'd be farther along if I hadn't ripped back to the beginning of that section....

5. German doily from a Lea magazine. Not exactly sure why I haven't finished this one already, but I've not been working on it a whole bunch. I was excited about starting it and for some reason I just haven't been picking it up and working on it! I think I've got too many projects OTN at the moment.

6. A pair of socks. Well, I'm still swatching for them, but once I figure out what pattern I'm going to use, I'll be starting them. Actually that's not true--I had started them, but I wasn't happy with how loose they were so I ripped them out. I was doing them both at the same time with the magic loop method, but I just couldn't stand how loose they were. I'll be starting again once I figure out a better number of stitches to cast on.

While that may not seem like a lot of projects, all but the doily are long-term things.

I seem to have a serious problem with project monogamy. I like the idea of having only two or three things on the needles, but I just can't seem to DO that. It must be my total lack of self-discipline or something.

2 comments:

tweezle said...

The yarn is GORGEOUS!! You have enough for a lovely lace scarf or (dare I say it?) socks :) Me, I'd lean towards a lace scarf so I could flash it all over the place so all can see. Great job!!

TheKnittingBee said...

You've only been spinning since January?!! Oh my goodness, that is amazing!